Charitable bequests are made through a will, a legal document that specifies how an individual’s property is to be distributed after death. A bequest made through either a will or a revocable trust can provide tax benefits to the donor and their heirs as well as providing needed resources for the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals.

Contact an estate planning attorney or click the link below to complete our complimentary online will planner.

A beneficiary designation gift is an easy way to make a planned gift to support Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals. You can designate us as a beneficiary of a retirement, investment, bank account, or current life insurance policy. The process is very straightforward – most banks and financial institutions will provide you with a form to complete to indicate the beneficiary or beneficiaries and their respective percentages.

This form is specific to each financial institution so it will require you to reach out and request it. Once you receive this form you simply name the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals as a beneficiary. 

We’ve made it easy to get started with a beneficiary designation with our preliminary form that gives you specific instructions and our tax identification number to include on the official beneficiary designation form from your bank or financial institution.

Individuals can also make a gift of life insurance by making the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals the irrevocable owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy that has cash value and is no longer needed. Individual donors, in many cases, may claim a charitable deduction when gifting a life insurance policy with cash value.  You should contact your tax advisor or a professional appraiser to determine the deduction amount.

Gifting stock can often be more beneficial to individuals than gifts of cash. You can use appreciated stocks, bonds, and/or mutual fund shares that you have held long-term to make a donation to the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals instead of cash. These gifts frequently help individuals avoid the tax liability on the appreciated value of the stocks, bonds, or securities. Click here to donate stock online through our complimentary tool or contact us for more information.

Many donors today are using Donor Advised Funds to optimize their tax situation while still supporting their favorite charities. These funds are set up with large financial institutions or community foundations who act as the charitable sponsor. Donors who direct gifts from these types of funds have a few options for the disbursement of any remaining funds upon their passing. One option is to designate the remaining balance of the fund to support the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals.

These types of gifts are also known as “life-income” gifts. They are investment vehicles that provide the donor with a fixed income for life, based on the initial value of the investment, and after the passing of the donor the remaining amount becomes the gift to the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals.

A Qualified Charitable Distributions make it easier to use IRA assets, during lifetime, to make charitable gifts to the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals. The QCD’s allows individuals age 70½ and older to make direct transfers of up to $111,000 per year (and up to $222,000 per year for married couples) from individual retirement accounts to qualified charities without having to count the transfers as income for federal tax purposes. So, these are “tax-wise” gifts for donors who must take an annual required minimum distribution from their IRAs. Since no tax is incurred on the withdrawal, gifts do not qualify for an income tax charitable deduction, but are eligible to be counted toward an individual’s minimum required distribution.

Provisions of the Qualified Charitable Distribution:

• Distributions must be made directly to a qualified charity by the plan administrator of an IRA. Retirement assets in 401(k), 403(b), SEP, or SIMPLE plans do not qualify but may be rolled into a new or existing IRA and transferred to the charity.
  
• Distributions may only be made to 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations and cannot be made to donor advised funds, private foundations, or supporting organizations.
  
• You can use a QCD to fund a CGA only once in your lifetime, up to a maximum of $55,000.